A Weekend Outside in Cleveland

HEY CLEVELANDERS! I just enjoyed a wonderful weekend full of fantastic activities here in the CLE.  Here’s the run down of what’s making it hard to focus this Monday morning.

FRIDAY NIGHT: I’m always down to plan a party, so I was ready to host our next monthly Cleveland blogger get together. Inspired by Grady’s recent birthday, I decided it best to throw a BYODDD: Bring Your Own Dog, Dish or Drink!

I’m going to direct you to these fabulous ladies & their recaps on the “blend” and pup hilarity that ensued this past Friday evening:

• Allison at Green Dog Wine
• Alycia at Fit n Fresh
• Heather at Mile 26 and More
• Katie at Healthy Heddleston
• Katrina at Bite Buff
• Suzanne at Life on Mars

You should know there was a lot of drink:

(c/o bitebuff.blogspot.com)

…a lot of food:

(c/o greendogwine.com)

…and even more of this:

(c/o greendogwine.com – please excuse my overheated patio door)

I loved spending time with six fantastic bloggers, six crazy pups, my mom and hubby that evening. Interested to know what I made for the party? Check back tomorrow for the full menu!

SATURDAY: Alas, the Browns did give me much to be happy about, so I took joy in the fabulous 3.5 miles I rocked on a newly discovered trail of the Cleveland Metroparks.

I traveled to the area near the Rockside Road exit of I-77 to the Ohio & Erie Canal Reservation’s Towpath Trail. From the Metroparks website: the 7.5-mile trail follows the historic Ohio & Erie Canal and connects to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park at Rockside Road.

I really enjoyed running on the gravel path along the canal from my parking spot to the canal visitor center about 1.75 miles away. Imagine running along a beautiful trial littered with these:

(c/o gcbl.org)

There were plenty of happy Clevelanders on their bikes that happily rang their bells as they passed me on the trail!

SUNDAY MORNING: I climbed out of bed in time to make it to Cleveland Yoga’s 2nd Annual Appreciation Day at Orchard Hills Park & Patterson’s Fruit Farm in Chesterland:

The Cleveland Yoga staff took turns leading a wonderful 75 minute class, structured for all levels of yogis.

There was live music during the session:

There were lots of downward dogs:

…and even actual dogs! This little guy was practicing two mats down from me:

(c/o Cleveland Yoga’s Facebook picture album)

It was a great event and I thank Cleveland Yoga for organizing it. I’ve done yoga outside a few times before (the best on an island during a Bahamas cruise!), but this really inspired me to hold my own Sunday morning practice on my back porch every week! Let me know if you’d like to join me next week!

SUNDAY AFTERNOON: With my muscles sore from too many chatarungas, I was ready to chill with the hubby and the pup. It was too glorious outside to not take advantage of the summer weather while it is still with us. We packed a bag and headed to Elmwood Park in Independence. This was the site of my first 5K earlier this month, so it was great to enjoy the scenery while laying on a blanket!

While Hans brushed up on some chemical engineering topics (notice the LARGE book), I perused some issues of Oprah magazine and caught up with my #GoldenGirls Angela, Bess, Dot and Meredith. Grady was far much more interested in attacking the nearby ducks in the pond:

Mom – why can’t I play in the water?!

Don’t tell anyone, but we let Grady off of his leash and gave him a bit of free reign in the quiet area around the pond.

We spent a lovely two hours at the park and I think we were all much more relaxed at the end of the afternoon.

I had a wonderful weekend – how was yours? How are you embracing the end of August?